Bronx on Bucket List for 95 year old Hip Hoppers

Bronx on Bucket List for 95 year old Hip Hoppers

The lives of children in the South Bronx are going to change if the elderly hip hop dance group The Hip Op-eration Crew has their way.

The world’s oldest dance group has a visit to the Bronx at the top of its bucket list and hopes to raise enough funds within the next 30 days to visit there this November. They are also inviting other people and organisations to join them on this journey.

95 year old dancer Kara Nelson (aka Kara Bang Bang) says their mission is to travel from their homes on Waiheke Island, New Zealand to the South Bronx in New York where hip hop originated from to surprise the kids in youth centres and schools with a hip hop dance performance.

“We want to pay tribute to their urban ancestors who invented hip hop and show these kids that when you do something positive, which brings people together, you can change the lives of the most unlikely group of people on the other side of the world. Please can video on Kickstarter.com to find out more,” says Nelson.

The Waiheke Island based Hip Op-eration Crew has risen to notoriety since they performed at the World Hip Hop Championships in Las Vegas in 2013 and had a feature documentary film about them released in cinemas internationally last year. Most recently they performed at the Ted X Conference in Auckland where their manager Billie Jordan did a Ted Talk.

Founder and Manager of The Hip Op-eration Crew, Billie Jordan says the dance group wants to make a difference in people’s lives before they die.

“We hope to show people around the world that no matter what your age or what obstacles you have in front of you, it is possible to achieve big goals and make a positive contribution to the lives of others. Going to the Bronx to inspire the young people is just part our mission, the other part is to show the world how much older people can achieve and contribute to society when they are treated as equals and have high expectations of them.

“We are very fortunate to have a lot of news media interested in filming our journey to the Bronx which will provide us with a much larger platform to inspire more people,” says Jordan.

95 year old dancer Terri Woolmore-Goodwin (aka Terri 2 Cents) says they want people to join them on the journey to the Bronx.

“We are inviting anyone who makes a Gold Donation to our ‘Bronx or Bust’ charity fundraiser to join us on the trip to the Bronx. It will be a heart-warming and unforgettable experience for everyone involved. It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities,” says Woolmore-Goodwin.

The Hip Op-eration Crew consists of 22 dancers aged 68 to 96 years old. Five members have dementia, one is blind, four use mobility aids, six are deaf, all have arthritis and the average age is 80. They are in the Guinness World Records as the oldest dance troupe in the world and are all neighbours on Waiheke Island.

To raise the funds needed to travel to the Bronx they are offering any person or organisation that makes a Gold Donation to their charity the opportunity to join the crew on the trip and brand a dancer’s clothing with their logo.

“People may even like to consider branding one of the dancers in the memory of someone who has passed away - so they are there in spirit. Corporations could also use the opportunity as a unique incentive reward for staff members.

"We hope to have enough pledges from around the world in the next 30 days to get 18 crew members and 18 Gold Donors to the Bronx,” says Jordan.

For more information about The Hip Op-eration Crew’s ‘Bronx or Bust’ fundraising campaign click here or go to www.kickstarter.com

ENDS

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